New Asus RT-87U

[drabisan]

I believe 802.11ac is still too young for a £300 price tag!
It's getting closer to enterprise class but technology is not there yet.
There is a need for reliable ac client with good driver implementation (whoever doesn't believe this should take a look at the mess Apple had created with their drivers).
And clearly it is not easy at all today to make use of 1300mbps on 5GHz.

I can't say if there are chipsets limits or software need to get some maturity but those high speeds in reliable way seems a bit far from me. A $300 router should deliver high speed in a stable fashion!

 

[thiggins]

what is the difference between asus rt87 and linksys wrt1900ac in terms of specs ?

The Linksys has a 4x4 radio but supports only 3 streams. So its maximum link rates are 600 Mbps for 2.4 GHz and 1300 for 5 GHz.

The ASUS is 4x4 with four streams, which pushes the 5 GHz link rate to 1700 Mbps. It also supports MU-MIMO.

These rates (and MU-MIMO) are only available with clients that support 4x4 operation and there aren't any of those (except a second router).

 

[RMerlin]

The Linksys has a 4x4 radio but supports only 3 streams. So its maximum link rates are 600 Mbps for 2.4 GHz and 1300 for 5 GHz.

The ASUS is 4x4 with four streams, which pushes the 5 GHz link rate to 1700 Mbps. It also supports MU-MIMO.

These rates (and MU-MIMO) are only available with clients that support 4x4 operation and there aren't any of those (except a second router).

From what I read, the Linksys will only use three antennas out of the four, whichever three have the strongest signals. I suspect that the fourth antenna is mostly a marketing gimmick, as many consumers believe that "more antennas = faster wifi".

 

[thiggins]

From what I read, the Linksys will only use three antennas out of the four, whichever three have the strongest signals. I suspect that the fourth antenna is mostly a marketing gimmick, as many consumers believe that "more antennas = faster wifi".

Some is marketing gimmick. But, depending on how it is used, the fourth RF chain can improve receive gain.

 

[IAAI]

The Linksys has a 4x4 radio but supports only 3 streams. So its maximum link rates are 600 Mbps for 2.4 GHz and 1300 for 5 GHz.

The ASUS is 4x4 with four streams, which pushes the 5 GHz link rate to 1700 Mbps. It also supports MU-MIMO.

These rates (and MU-MIMO) are only available with clients that support 4x4 operation and there aren't any of those (except a second router).

thanks for the explanation

i m kind a lost , why companies are just making ac router and they are not stable in terms of software/hardware and there are no clients support for 4x4 yet .

why not just improving n600 or 900 .

 

[L&LD]

These (just introduced) routers are the future. Best estimate is they will show up in 6 months time. Hence; no clients needed at this point.

I would rather they work on AC routers than N routers going forward - the AC routers we have now, as 'bad' as they are made out to be, still kick N routers to the stone age.

Only by having these out in actual users hands will the necessary 'theory' behind them become usable fact - and we will eventually be able to pick up an AC router at Staples for $19.99 and it will just work.

To improve N600 or N900 routers right now you buy an AC1750 or higher router and use it with your N clients.

To get all the benefits of the promise of Wave 2 AC routers; well, let's just say a few heads will roll before that becomes a reality.

Hopefully Asus has picked a winner with the only real 4 antenna, 4 stream, MU-MIMO Quantenna based chipset available as of now. It is still missing 160MHz wide channel support (maybe that can be added via a firmware upgrade?), otherwise - the only thing that will be better is a 5+ antenna based router with equal streams and of course, clients that finally support MU-MIMO!

XP is finally being allowed to slowly die in April of this year - on life support since 2001. We don't need the same thing to happen in the WiFi space.

 

[thiggins]

thanks for the explanation

i m kind a lost , why companies are just making ac router and they are not stable in terms of software/hardware and there are no clients support for 4x4 yet .

why not just improving n600 or 900 .

Just as innovation stopped in G routers when N appeared, so will the same happen for N. Technology always focuses forward and doesn't look back.

Besides, consumer show time and time again that they will buy routers with a larger number on the box, even if it doesn't help them.

 

[jlake]

Just as innovation stopped in G routers when N appeared, so will the same happen for N. Technology always focuses forward and doesn't look back.

Besides, consumer show time and time again that they will buy routers with a larger number on the box, even if it doesn't help them.

A larger number and the word "FASTER".

It's surprising that there are a great many consumers with a 3 Mbps DSL connection that somehow think that a new $200 router will speed up their websurfing and YouTube. Some of these consumers can be extremely intelligent, successful people in their fields, but they just don't get it or never had the time or desire to figure it out. All they know is "it sure couldn't hurt". I've seen that play out with my own eyes several times just in my small world.

 

[connorm]

From what I read, the Linksys will only use three antennas out of the four, whichever three have the strongest signals. I suspect that the fourth antenna is mostly a marketing gimmick, as many consumers believe that "more antennas = faster wifi".

same design at cisco's aironet 3700. probably using the same marvell chipset aswell. and the chipset is SPECIFICALLY designed for 3SS with 4 atenna's so its DEFINITELY not a marketing gimmick, but whether the performance gains will be there or not is another question

i believe the cisco aironet 3600 uses bcm 4360's and that thing doesnt even compare to the 3700

I believe 802.11ac is still too young for a £300 price tag!
It's getting closer to enterprise class but technology is not there yet.
There is a need for reliable ac client with good driver implementation (whoever doesn't believe this should take a look at the mess Apple had created with their drivers).
And clearly it is not easy at all today to make use of 1300mbps on 5GHz.

I can't say if there are chipsets limits or software need to get some maturity but those high speeds in reliable way seems a bit far from me. A $300 router should deliver high speed in a stable fashion!

well thats just it. there is enterprise ac stuff for like $1200-$1300. and that linksys is the closest thing to the aironet 3700 which is priced way higher. whether or not belkin will be able to back up or justify this price is another story. but the wrt1900ac is using the same chipset at $1300 enterprise routers. so i figure it will be good. infact i dont know how it could be much worse. if someone could explain that it would be nice

thanks for the explanation

i m kind a lost , why companies are just making ac router and they are not stable in terms of software/hardware and there are no clients support for 4x4 yet .

why not just improving n600 or 900 .

n600 or n900 would have never gotten to the point AC is at right now. i am 100% sure of that. lol max N450 or N600 transfer speed would be lucky around 300-350Mbit. but its probably much lower. i have seen ac hit 600-800mbit on dif occasions.

 

[sm00thpapa]

http://pcdiy.asus.com/2014/01/rt-ac87u-the-ultimate-router-4x4-mu-mimo-ces-2014/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy5VzDwH9Sw

 

[remixedcat]

Some is marketing gimmick. But, depending on how it is used, the fourth RF chain can improve receive gain.

At least the extra radio in Meraki APs is actually used for good stuff. Air Marshall and RF optimization. That's why you see a 3 radio one for example that's only a 2x2 or 4 radio when it's a 3x3 when it uses the extra as the RF/AM radio.

 

[janosek]

It would be nice if they added more than 4 ports. I have a PS3, Printer, VOIP and Desktop wired in. Four more and link bonding out of the box would allow for a nice Synology NAS.

 

[L&LD]

I see the replacement of this not yet available router with 160MHz channel bonding, MU-MUMO, 8 antenna, 8 streams, 6 or 7x GB Lan ports and 1 or 2x 10GB Lan ports too (with link bonding too). Of course, this is somewhere in 2016+...

Where can we sign up for the beta?

 

[sm00thpapa]

Glad I stuck with my N66U and N66W and not jump into the AC arena since AC2300 wave 2 will be out soon. Guess a lot of AC68U's will be on ebay for sale soon.

 

[L&LD]

Asus doesn't even have a release date set. No discounted AC68U's for the foreseeable future.

 

[RMerlin]

Glad I stuck with my N66U and N66W and not jump into the AC arena since AC2300 wave 2 will be out soon. Guess a lot of AC68U's will be on ebay for sale soon.

In all fairness, Tim did warn early adopters about this. So anyone who did his homework should have been aware of it.

 

[thiggins]

Glad I stuck with my N66U and N66W and not jump into the AC arena since AC2300 wave 2 will be out soon. Guess a lot of AC68U's will be on ebay for sale soon.

"Wave 2" is a science experiment at this point.
What's the proverb about fools and money?

 

[L&LD]

Tim, while I can agree that it is a science experiment now, it is still the same roadmap that the WiFi alliance has outlined long in advance to bring us to the promised land.

For myself, I don't blindly believe in the marketing blurbs or even most 'testing' done on the 'net to decide if I upgrade or not.

I will only consider products I can acquire with a full money back guarantee and when I have the time to test them myself in my environment. If they prove better than my current equipment, only then will I part with my money.

People that buy based on bigger numbers or the 'Faster' printed on the box are not concerned with performance. I am.

Having said all that - I too have not jumped on AC routers yet.

But the customers I have that took a chance with Wave 1 AC class equipment have let me use the new technology and I can see obvious benefits even with my N class clients in range and throughput - which is almost all I care about in a wireless network.

The Asus AC2300 is too far away to plan on getting one for me (and I'm sure it'll be quirky when it arrives too, at least for a few months) - so, when I have a chance to really try an RT-AC68U in my environment I will. Then I'll know for sure if it will be worth the $230 it is currently going for to replace my RT-N66U.

But without trying, there is no forward progress. I think on that we can both agree.

 

[thiggins]

But without trying, there is no forward progress. I think on that we can both agree.

I have no problem with progress. That's what keeps me in business.

Just trying to make sure people know what they are getting into when they buy these products.

 

[toor]

Rt-ac87u

Me want!


http://pcdiy.asus.com/2014/01/rt-ac87u-the-ultimate-router-4x4-mu-mimo-ces-2014/

Sorry for the post, didn't see someone posted about it in the "Other" upcoming thread.
http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=14565